New to Inbound Marketing? Here’s How to Prepare Your Sales Team

Congratulations on introducing inbound marketing into your organization! You’ve just taken the first step in achieving better sales results and driving profits. You’ve realized that inbound is the future of business and that you must take the leap and embrace it in order to stay relevant and competitive in today’s marketplace.

However, introducing inbound is just the first step in the journey. Your work doesn’t end there. You can’t expect miracle results just because you’ve created a presence for your company online. Success requires a multi-pronged approach and ongoing hard work.

You might be wondering what you need to do next in order to maximize results and really get your inbound marketing strategy off the ground. You want to ensure success. You don’t want inbound to be a wasted investment. Once you have your inbound strategy in the works, you have to prepare your sales team for the change at your company.

Your Sales Team Might Resist Change, so Give Them a Reason to Smile

No one likes change. And your sales team might not be all too happy that you’ve completely changed the way they’re supposed to sell. You’re essentially telling them that all of the hard work your reps have put into their sales process and their selling techniques are now irrelevant and unnecessary. You’re telling them that they have to transform the way they sell, that they have to learn new techniques and tactics, and that they have to become different types of sales representatives. This can be pretty scary to hear.

Though you should expect that your sales team might resist the changes you’re making, you can help them to be better prepared for the next stage in their careers by explaining to them exactly how inbound marketing is going to help them succeed. Let them know that inbound is a good thing and that they’ll benefit from it. They won’t have to make cold calls anymore. They won’t have to chase after prospects. They’ll get a full pipeline of higher quality leads to follow up on, and they’ll ultimately close more deals.

Introduce HubSpot CRM

You want to make it as easy as possible on your sales team to change the way they sell. Introducing HubSpot CRM, a free software program, can help you do just that. This CRM will help them by driving efficiency and increasing productivity. It will do much of the data entry for them, it’ll make prospecting easier, and it will give them the intelligence they need to close more deals. They’ll also have far more time to do what they do best—sell.

To help your sales people succeed, you should be giving them the tools they need to become great inbound sellers.

Partner with an Inbound Agency that Offers Sales Coaching

Your marketers aren’t the only employees who are going to need help navigating through the new inbound marketing process you’ve recently put in place. Your sales people will have to transform the way they sell, and it’s going to take some time for them to become stellar inbound sellers. To maximize the results of inbound, you should partner with an inbound agency that offers sales coaching.

On top of receiving help with your inbound strategy, you’ll also get monthly sales enablement for your sales team that will help them learn best practices, help them understand how to best represent your company online and how best to sell to inbound customers. It will also give them the chance to share their concerns and ask their questions—because they’ll certainly have some. Offering your sales people the coaching they need to become inbound rock stars is an investment worth making—you’ll close more deals and improve your bottom line when you help your sales team succeed.

Matthew Cook

Matthew has over 20 years of sales and sales management experience. In addition to being the founder of SalesHub, he is the founder of SalesForce Search, which was #4 on Profit Magazine's Hot 50 list as one of the fastest growing companies in Canada. When he’s not helping companies improve their revenue he trains and competes in half ironman distance triathlons to “relax”.